The countries are Anguilla, Haiti, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and St. Lucia.

CCRIF is a not-for-profit risk pooling facility, owned and operated by Caribbean governments. It is designed to limit the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes and earthquakes to Caribbean governments by quickly providing short-term liquidity when a parametric insurance policy is triggered.

The new excess rainfall insurance coverage has been eagerly awaited by Caribbean governments.

“This product complements CCRIF’s hurricane coverage which determines losses based on wind and storm surge,” said CCRIF chief executive officer, Isaac Anthony. “We commend our eight members for taking the initiative and purchasing this ground-breaking product and hope that other countries in the region will follow.”

Developed by CCRIF and global reinsurer, Swiss Re, the excess rainfall product is aimed primarily at extreme high rainfall events of short duration whether they occur during a tropical cyclone or not.

“Because the excess rainfall product is parametric, a payout can be made quickly – within 14 days – after a rain event that triggers a country’s policy, without waiting for time-consuming damage and loss assessments on the ground,” the CCRIF said in a statement.

CCRIF said that the regional countries that have acquired the new policy will be able to respond better to an event such as the trough that brought heavy rains to the Eastern Caribbean in December last year, resulting in the loss of life, extensive damage to infrastructure and wide-spread economic disruption.

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